How long does a cat's memory last? I know it's close to two weeks because tomorrow will be two weeks since Thanksgiving. And that means two weeks since my cat Bodhi escaped out the back door in the kitchen and had some sort of life-transforming adventure down near the garbage chute. I surmise this because a) that's where I found him, downstairs next to the garbage chute alongside the garage and b) he incessantly meows by the back door and stands up on his hind legs and tries to jiggle the doorknob open.
Every day I hope that his memory will have faded, that he will content himself with sleeping on the sofa or playing with a toy. And every day he runs into the kitchen and begins his cries, long and low and mournful. What on earth is so tantalizing down alongside the garbage chute? And when oh when will he forget he ever experienced it?